Trial looms in beating of Albany toddler

OSSIPEE - The man charged with severely beating and kidnapping of his ex-girlfriend's toddler is expected to appear at a scheduling conference next month.

Justin Roy, 34, formerly of Albany, has been held in Carroll County jail on $50,000 cash bail since his arrest and arraignment on numerous charges last April. He was indicted on April 13 on one count of first -degree assault, five counts of second-degree assault, two counts of kidnapping, one count of criminal restraint - all felonies - and two counts of misdemeanor level simple assault.

If convicted of the most serious felony offenses that come with extended term sentences because they involve children under 13, Roy faces more than 100 years in jail. The extended term felony offenses carry 10- to 30-year prison terms.

Carroll County Attorney Thomas Dewhurst III on Friday said the pre-trial scheduling conference is on the calendar for Jan. 10.

Dewhurst, who has prosecuted the case since the indictments, ends his term as county attorney on Jan. 1. He said that it hasn't been determined if he would continue to prosecute the case for the county early next year. Former County Attorney Robin Gordon was reelected to the post this fall and begins her term in January.

Roy is charged with beating the then 2-year-old son of his former girlfriend, Heather Downs. The boy is now 3. The boy suffered life-threatening injuries including damage to his intestines and pancreas, and was hospitalized for several weeks. He is now recovering, with his younger brother, in the care of his grandparents and father in Maine.

Roy is also charged with injuring Downs' 8-year-old son by pushing him, causing him to hit his head on a coffee table, and with simple assault for squirting the contents of a baby bottle into the baby boy's face.

Heather Downs has since been charged with one count of felony witness tampering and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

Deputy Gross mysteriously disappeared when he went to Barre to collect $250 from a man found liable in a civil matter. The next day the deputies car was found in a wooded area east of Barre. The man...